Author's Note:

This is my first attempt at creating a fanfiction! I do sincerely apologize if it isn't up to standards. I'm somewhat OCD about reading fics; It irks me to no end when a fic doesn't have proper spelling or grammar. I'm gonna try my best to live up to my own standards regarding these two points, but I may not notice some smaller errors; please feel free to offer criticism! It will be accepted on the sole condition that any criticism is constructive, and not destructive.

Moving on to this fic; This is partly a self-insertion to the usual "new familiar" story that gets thrown around. I say partly, because the OC here is one that I created based on myself, but also everything that I wish I could be. The OC will respond to each situation and become attached to each character in the same way that I myself would.

Also, It may seem like he's a bit of a "Gary Stu" or something like that, but I'm trying to develop his power in such a way that while he does have incredible strength, there are risks to using that power for extended periods.

There may also be elements that you recognize from other fics; this is not intentional! I was heavily inspired by the fantastic "Hill of Swords" by Gabriel Blessing. I've also spent a lot of time trying to find other works by other people.

But that's enough of me talking now; Let's begin with the story!

Edit:I've changed the summary a bit, should be a bit more accurate to the currently planned story.

"Have a good day everyone", I said as I walked out the front door of my work place.

Barely catching the half hearted replies, I made my way around to the back of the building. I quickly slipped on my sling pack, and unlocked my bike from it's post, and sped away.

My name was Draskir. It wasn't my legal name, but it was the name that I deferred to when confronted with situations that might seem... less than legitimate. Consider it an alias of sorts.

I was a bit tall for my family. Standing at roughly 6'2", I towered over most of my family, with very few exceptions. My hair fell just above the shoulders, and was between brown and dirty-blonde, I had never really discerned a difference. My eyes were a hazel color; and apparently very large, on account of the few people who ever mentioned it.

I would be the first to admit that I was a bit... lazy. When I wasn't at work, I was probably sitting around playing video games, or watching anime. Standard Otaku, if not generic. It wasn't a bad life though; experiencing adventure and story, engaging in thrilling battle, that sort of thing excited me. I had been a gamer since I was old enough to hold a controller, and ultimately, I wanted to be a video game designer.

Currently, I worked at the popular family restaurant, IHOP. The place was famous for it's pancakes, but it sold all kinds of meals, for all times of the day. I liked my co-workers well enough, but I wanted to start looking for other lines of work. Being a dishwasher at a restaurant only granted minimum wage, which was just over nine dollars per hour. It's not a bad start for an eighteen year old, but with my ambition, I needed to move up as quickly as possible.

Little did I know, however, I wouldn't need to worry about that anymore.

I worked the graveyard shift, so I usually got off of work at around three in the morning, which was great since it left the roads almost completely empty for me to ride my bike on. I turned out of the driveway for the IHOP parking lot, and began my descent down the hills towards my home. I was half way down the largest hill when a green light appeared in front of me. It happened so suddenly, I had no time to slow down, or even think of trying.

I passed through the strange light, and everything went dark.

[Scene Break]

It was mid-day, near the beginning of spring, at the Tristain Magic Academy. One of the many classes was gathered in a courtyard, to perform the "Springtime Familiar Summoning Ritual". It was a ritual that was required for every student at the start of their second year.

In this particular class, there was a girl who had failed the Ritual, twice. Her name was Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere. She was a small thing, short and thin. Her bright pink hair fell down just past her waist, and her matching eyes were full of panic.

"You should just give up!" shouted one of her class-mates, a tall red-head by the name of Kirche. Kirche was significantly more built, with her very well endowed chest, and dark skin, she had an almost exotic look to her.

"You've failed twice already, stop before you blow us up again!" yelled yet another student, a short blonde whose name was Montmeroncy.

"That's enough of that, students", said a balding older man sternly. His name was Colbert, and he was a professor at the Academy. He spoke once more "Miss Valliere, please try again."

Gulping, Louise began to chant once more.

"I beg of you..."

"There she goes again, with that strange incantation", muttered Montmeroncy, holding on to her familiar, Robin the Frog.

"My servant that lives somewhere in the universe..."

"Where does she come up with these things?" asked blonde young boy, whose name was Guiche.

"My divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant! Heed my call, as I wish from the bottom of my heart! Answer to my guidance!"

Louise looked on expectantly, but... nothing happened. A ring of laughter broke out again, as Louise fell to her knees, as her sorrow began to well up inside her.

"Not even an explosion this time!" laughed Kirche, "That's our little Zero!"

Louise's body began shaking as her anger and sadness continued to rise.

'I have to do something!' she thought desperately. 'Please... just let me summon something, anything!' Her thoughts of the constant failure in her life continued like a whirlwind, and her emotions reached a peak as she reached out, desperately trying to connect with something that she could summon.

Suddenly, she stilled, and rose up slowly. Her eyes became glossy, as if she had been hypnotized. Her wand hand rose straight up into the air, and she began chanting again, a completely different chant, as if the words came by instinct. The laughter died out quickly at this, and Louise's peers looked on with mild amusement.

"An icy glacier in the North... Two sandy dunes in the South... Three rocky peaks in the East... Four stormy seas in the West..."

This strange new chant caught the attention of Professor Colbert, who began memorizing every word in order to attempt research at a later point.

"From the ground below, to the skies above... Reach out, across reality, into another beyond our own!"

"Hear me, being of ultimate wisdom and strength!"

"Hear my cry, and answer to the will of my soul!"

Kra-boom!

An explosion broke out, more powerful than any Louise had ever caused, nearly knocking everyone off of their feet. Coughing, Louise backed away from the edge of the large cloud, just as a figure flew out. The Figure flew straight over her head, and crashed some distance behind her. Turning sharply, Louise sought quickly to get a glimpse of the being she summoned, hope filling her very core.

Her eyes fell upon her summon, and hope turned to dread. It was a young man, atop a strange contraption of metal and wheels. Groaning, the young man slowly pushed himself up to a standing position, warily looking around.

"The Zero summoned a commoner..."

"Maybe she's just paying him?"

'I summoned a... a human!?' Louise thought.

As he stood, Louise was able to get a full glimpse of the young man. He was rather tall, at least a full head above her height. He had brown hair, which fell just above his shoulders. The man was wearing black pants, and a red shirt, with a black jacket that had four pockets on the front, two on each side of the zipper. The man reached behind his back, and pulled a small device from his orange, single-strap backpack, and began fiddling with it.

"W-well, Miss Valliere, it seems you have summoned a familiar," stated Colbert, eyeing the young man.

"Ha! The zero summoned a commoner!" Kirche joked, "The Zero got a zero familiar, huh?"

"It was just a small screw up, Zerbst!" shouted Louise, "Professor! Please let my try again!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that," Colbert sighed, "Such an act would violate the traditions of this sacred ritual. Please seal the contract."

"V-very well..." sighed Louise, eliciting another round of laughter from her peers. 'How could I summon a commoner?' She trudged up to the young man. He was looking around with curiosity, and his attention turned to Louise when he found her suddenly next to him, her wand held vertically in front of her.

"My name is Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere. Pentagon of the Five Powers, bless this man and make him my familiar!"

Louise then grabbed the mans collar to pull his head down to her, and kissed him directly on the lips. The mans eyes widened in shock, and pulled away immediately. It seemed he was about to become angry, when his left arm began to glow. The man looked down sharply, hold said arm up to inspect the change. The arm began emitting smoke, and runes appeared on the side of his forearm, extending from his elbow to just before his pinky finger.

'It should be over by now,' thought Louise. Still the runes continued to burn, despite no additional runes appearing anywhere else. After several tense moments of continued branding, the man's eyes began to glow with an ethereal tinge. The energy on the man's iris was colored white, while the rest of the energy flowing from the eyes was a faint orange.

Suddenly, the man began to float several feet into the air, and Louise backed the same distance away from him. The ethereal energy fully enclosed the man's body as he hung in the air, with the white energy shifting to a darker blue hue, before fading to white again. Suddenly, the energy flew skyward, and took the shape of an ethereal dragon. The ether-dragon continued it's ascent for about a hundred yards, before arching backwards and beginning a free-fall directly towards the man again.

At the moment the ether-dragon crashed back into the man, a bright light blinded everyone present, just as a force of wind blew everyone back. Only Louise stood, having been trained to withstood such an impact by the constant volatile failure of her spells.

The wind dissipated, and the light receded, revealing the young man lying face up on the ground, barely conscious. When Louise approached and knelt by his side, he looked up at her with a strained look.

"W-what the hell am I?" he whispered, before succumbing completely to unconsciousness.

[Scene Break]

'Cold. I'm very cold.'

'What was I doing before? I can't remember.'

'Where am I?' I took a look around. There was snow blowing along the rocky crags around me. The sky was very cloudy, snow falling heavily. In spite of the snowfall, I couldn't see my breath in front of me. I realized that I was on the peak of a mountain.

'How did I get here?' As I thought that, I felt the air shift behind me. I tried turn and see what was going on, but the act seemed to take forever.

'Just a little more...' I pushed myself to try and turn faster, but just as I was about to see the source of the shift, my vision faded...

...and I shot up into a sitting position. I looked down at myself, and saw that I was still wearing my work uniform.

"How long was I out...?" I asked myself, holding one hand up against my forehead.

"About three hours", said an annoyed female voice to my right. I looked over sharply, and saw the pink-hair girl from before, reading a book at a table off to one side of the moderately sized room. She had an annoyed expression on her face. I moved to a better position with my feet on the floor, and continued looking around the room. After a moment, I spotted my jacket and sling-pack hanging from another chair at the table.

"You again", I said, "Who are you? And where am I?"

"I am Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere, and I will not have my familiar speak to me in such a callous manner!" said the girl... Louise, with a heated glare. I got up from the bed, and began moving towards the table.

"Familiar?" I asked, "What makes you think I'll just accept becoming someone's familiar like this? How long does it last?" I narrowed my eyes at Louise as I arrived at the table. Louise narrowed her eyes in return, and spoke as I began digging through my sling-pack.

"The familiar contract is set to last an entire life time," stated Louise matter-of-factly, continuing her glare through narrowed eyes. I just sighed and ignored that she hadn't really answered all of my questions. I continued digging through my pack until I found my phone, and switched on the screen to take a look at the time.

'This says it's only six in the morning... but it looks like mid-afternoon out the window,' I thought to myself. 'I have so many questions, and not a whole lot of inclination to throw that at this... Louise girl.' I sighed again, before asking, "Do I at least get my own place to sleep?"

"You can go to the stable and grab a pile of hay," said Louise, returning to her book. I pulled on my coat and pack, and left the room with out another word. I took note of the number on the door, remembering it for later, and made my way down the hallway.

[Scene Break]

After nearly ten minutes of hallways and staircases, I arrived at the base of the tower, only to realize that I hadn't asked Louise where the stables were located. I sighed as I looked out the window, across the courtyard that was apparently right next to the tower dorms. As I exited the hall, I noticed another small girl, this one with shoulder length, light blue hair and red rimmed glasses. I must admit that was actually very cute. The girl was sitting on a bench some distance away from me. With a whole lot of nothing to lose, I made my way to her.

"Excuse me, do you know where I can find the stables?" I asked politely. The girl looked up for a few seconds, and then looked back at her book. Was she one of those really quiet types?

"Over there," she said softly, pointing to the opposite end of the courtyard. I mentally face-palmed for not seeing earlier.

"Thank you," I said. I took another look at her, before turning away, ready to get this task done with.

"Strange..." said the girl softly. I turned back to her again, only to find her standing, and several feet closer than before. I step back, surprised at her sudden movement. Talk about creepy. How did she manage to close that distance without making a sound?

"Please don't do that..." I laughed nervously, "Anyway, what's strange?" She frowned, ever so slightly. Not only quiet, but also lacking in visible emotion. Maybe she's forcing herself to be introverted?

"Your power," she said. My confusion only grew at that.

"My power?" I questioned, "What do you mean, 'my power'? I don't remember ever having 'power'." I frowned at her, confusion and curiosity both hitting their respective peaks.

"You don't know?" she asked me. My eyes narrowed as confusion was soon replaced by annoyance. Part of me wondered what she was talking about, while another part was beginning to believe she was just toying with me. All I knew was that she was really selling the whole 'lady of few words' act.

"Clearly not," I said with a mildly annoyed voice. "Can you give me a straight answer?" Her response was to turn away.

"Ask Louise," the girl said, looking sideways at me. We held a small staring contest for a few moments. I was finding it increasingly difficult not to be distracted by the way that her eyes reminded me of emeralds.

"What's your name?" I asked her. She looked away from me, opening her book again. What was she reading?

"Tabitha," She said simply. I found myself smiling, despite the annoyance from before.

"I'm Draskir," I said, just as simply. Turning away, I make my way over to the stables.

[Scene Break]

"So let's get this straight," I said from atop my hay pile, "This place is an academy to teach magic to young students, in a country called Tristain. You, one of the students of this academy, were required to summon a familiar, using that magic. When you did so, you got... me. And now you expect me to obey your every order without question." I looked at her with a sardonic expression. "Is that how it's supposed to go?"

"That is correct, familiar," said Louise, wearing a mildly arrogant expression. "You will-"

"Draskir," I cut in, "My name is Draskir, and I would greatly appreciate it if you used it, Louise." I glared at her through narrowed eyes. I definitely wasn't going to let her condescend to me.

"Excuse me?" Louise shot up, as if to attempt towering above me. It was about as intimidating as you can imagine. Which is to say, not at all. "You are my familiar! I am your Master, and you will address me as such!" I sighed, and stood up.

"I refuse," I said. Louise's eyes narrowed. She went for her wand, and pointed it directly at me. That can't be good... instinct propelled me to sidestep very quickly. It was a good thing too, because right after I did, an explosive force knocked me onto the bed, no damage taken.

"You will obey me, or face the penalty!" Louise shouted, her anger visibly rising.

"Again, I refuse!" I shout back, rolling off the bed to avoid another explosion. Luckily, my roll put me directly under her wand, so my left hand shot up and grabbed her wand, ripping it away from her. I then shot into a standing position myself, and my right palm found it's way to her just below her throat. I then pushed her backwards, with great force, and pinned her to the wall.

"I don't give a flying fuck who you think you are," I hissed at her, staring angrily directly into her now very afraid eyes, "but it does not give you the right to blow me up, just for refusing your orders. Quite frankly, the only reason I haven't left is because I have no way to get home. If you want me to respect you as my master, then you had damn well better show me the exact same respect. Do you understand me?"

Louise simply nodded furiously, visibly fearing her current position. I sighed and gently let go of her, handing her wand back to her. I could almost feel the fear and nervousness radiating off of her.

"I think we should discuss the details of this... partnership,"I mumbled at Louise, earning only a small nod in response. We seated ourselves at the table, both waiting for the other to speak.

"So... how is this going to play out?" I questioned Louise. She stayed silent, her eyes downcast, as if contemplating a response. This isn't going anywhere. Maybe another question to get her going? "How does the master familiar relationship usually work out?" Louise looks up uncertainly.

"Usually, the familiar is a creature that will protect the master, or gather reagents, that sort of thing," Louise stated slowly. I wasn't liking where this was going.

"But that's because the familiar itself is generally an animal, right?" I asked, raising one eyebrow, "It's different with me, because I'm a human being who is capable of making decisions, regardless of whether or not I'm a familiar."

"A familiar is just an animal though," Louise argued, "and you should be no different from a dog."

"I think I just proved exactly why that's wrong though, "I stated gently, "Apart from certain breeds, most dogs will cower in fear when attacked by their master. However, I was more than willing to fight back. My mind and my body mark me as a human being, and if you want me to accept my role as your familiar, then you should be prepared to treat me as such. You must use logic if you are to determine what the proper course of action is."

Louise stayed silent at this.

"I'm not going to accept becoming a servant," I said, "But I will stay if you agree to accept me as a partner instead." Louise looked at me in surprise, shocked at my willingness to stay despite her attempt at blowing me to pieces.

"You mean you'll really stay?" She whispered. I nodded, smiling slightly. She really looked like an innocent child. I was unsure about everything that had happened, but it seemed like here, I'd be able to start figuring things out. Speaking of which...

"Off topic..." I started, steeling myself for any possible outbursts, "Why were the others calling you a zero?"

Uncertainty gave way to annoyance, and Louise shot me a very angry look. Must have been a sore spot. I immediately threw up an apologetic look, which seemed to mollify the pinkette, if only just.

"It's because I've never been able to cast a spell properly in my life!" Louise snapped at me angrily. Ouch... no wonder she was disappointed in getting me for a familiar. "That Zerbst decided that since my success rate is zero percent, then I should just be 'The Zero'!" Her shoulders drooped considerably, and she settled back into a state of melancholy. Damn... zero success rate? I was never really good at a whole lot, but I had my talents.

"They just keep saying that I should give up..." mumbled Louise, "But I want to be a good mage. I want to become strong enough to serve the princess... I want to be the strongest!" I regarded her for a few moments, before smirking. It kind of reminded me of a certain prince that wanted the strength to become the ruler of his nation.

"Well, I do like how ambitious you are," I said, earning a questioning look from Louise. I returned her gaze with my own serious look. "You have a dream. Don't ever give up on it. Keep it in your sights and work hard every day, and you'll make it there some day." I smiled at her reassuringly. Louise's eyes widened dramatically. Had she never received praise before?

"T-that's right!" she said suddenly. "It's not like I need you to tell me that!" Her words were so obviously forced that I had to let out a laugh.

"That's the spirit," I told her. "I'm gonna go out for a bit. Just remembered I don't know where my bike is..."

"Bike?" Louise questioned. "What's that?" I barely resisted the urge to face palm. I had forgotten that this 'Tristain' was probably in the equivalent of Chivalric times. They probably didn't have bicycles back then.

"A bike, or bicycle," I began, raising one finger, "is an item used for transportation. It uses gears and a chain to propel itself forward when the rider applies pressure to the pedals." I could almost see the question marks appearing over her head. "It's that thing that I had with me at the summoning, remember?" Louise pondered that for a moment, and then it clicked, and she nodded. "I'll show you how it works at some point, but first I have to find the bloody thing. It looks pretty late now, so you should get some sleep. G'night."

"Good night..." I heard Louise say as left the room, closing the door behind me. Looked like we were making some progress! I was definitely happy to be on good terms with my 'master' now, if only because it would help make my start here a moderately peaceful one.

[Scene Break]

Why did these bloody hallways have to be so long? I could swear that I had been walking for ages, but my phone said it's only been five minutes. Speaking of which, my phone was acting slightly odd. It was nearly dead when I got off work, but after I left Louise's room the second time, the battery was reading a full charge. Maybe it was reacting to the magical energy in the air? I could make as many guesses as I liked, but I would never have found an answer.

My musings were interrupted as I rounded a corner, and two people came into view. One of them was a short girl, with brown hair. The other was a moderately taller boy, with a mop of blonde hair.

"I'd love to try your souffle, Katie," said the blonde.

"Oh, lord Guiche, do you really mean that?" asked the girl... Katie. I got the feeling that maybe she admired the blonde, Guiche, rather than actually having romantic feelings.

"Of course, Katie, for I could never tell lies in front of your eyes," crooned Guiche. Katie's eyes were like plates, they were so wide. I however, was barely able to resist laughing out loud as I passed them by. I managed to keep a straight face, looking ahead, but alas, the blonde fop noticed me anyway.

"You there!" Guiche called out to me. I turned to face him, one eyebrow raised. "Aren't you the Zero's familiar?"

"Correct," I said, taking a page from Tabitha's book. Guiche seemed like a skirt chaser to me, not the kind of guy I liked to get involved with. His eyes narrowed at my pointed response.

"You should learn to have respect for your betters," growled Guiche. "Tell me, how much is the Zero paying you for this act?" I tried to repress a smirk, but failed horribly.

"She isn't," I stated bemusedly. "Besides, those who want respect, give respect." I dropped the statement on Guiche's head as if it were a rock, and his reaction was much the same as if it had actually been a rock. He stood there, stunned for a moment, before his eyes narrowed in anger. I'd had enough though, so I turned and continued on my way, leaving the couple behind me.

[Scene Break]

There were two moons in the sky. Two moons. Two of them. I should have guessed by then, and even without the two moons in the sky, it was glaringly obvious that I wasn't on Earth anymore. I made my way over to the bench that Tabitha had been sitting on earlier, and took a seat myself.

The first clue that had tipped me off was the oddly colored hair. People on Earth just don't have pink or blue hair, not without dyes. Even then, dyed hair still didn't look entirely natural to me, but Louise's hair looked completely natural. That brought me to the second tip off; Louise had pink eyes. In a land that was obviously behind in the technology department, it was just as obvious that contact lenses hadn't been invented. Therefore, Louise's eyes were naturally pink.

The third tip off was the round up of familiars at the summoning. Between miss red head's lizard, and Tabitha's dragon, I had seen more than enough even at that moment to know that I wasn't on Earth anymore.

It was pretty cool to see a live dragon though; I had played enough Skyrim that the sight of dragons was commonplace in my memory, so that kinda mollified the excitement. It was still cool regardless.

I was shaken out of my musings a second time, as I noticed a figure approaching from my right. Upon closer inspection, the newcomer is revealed to be a young maid who looked somewhat... oriental. I wasn't up to scratch on the physical differences of the various races of the Asian people, but this girl was obviously part Asian at least.

"E-excuse me, but... are you a new servant here?" asked the young girl. She was obviously nervous, about what, I didn't know. I tried to help calm her nerves offering a small smile.

"I'm afraid not," I answered, "I'm actually one of the summoned familiars." The maid's eyes widened at that, dropping all pretense of nervousness, and switching completely to curiosity.

"You're the man that Miss Valliere summoned?" she asked. I nodded lightly, smiling all the while. "Ah! I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Siesta." The young maid bowed slightly. I chuckled at this, and stood up from my seat.

"My name is Draskir," I introduce myself, bowing in return. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Siesta." Siesta smiled nervously, fiddling with the frills of her uniform. Silence reigned as I took Siesta's appearance in. She was just barely taller than Louise, and her black hair was cut neatly about an inch up from her shoulders.

"Was there a particular reason you spoke to me?" I asked her gently.

"Oh! Well, um, I was hoping that you were a worker, because I might..." Siesta trailed off nervously.

"Need some help?" I supplied for her bemusedly. The maid nodded furiously and I smiled again. "Well, I have some time, so lead the way." Siesta looked up quickly, and was unable to contain an apparent satisfaction with my statement.

As she led me away, to help with who knows what, I looked up at the moons. I guess that the more things change, the more they stay the same, huh? That's great, because I really need more things to clean. That was sarcasm, if you couldn't tell.

I didn't get back to Louise's room for what felt like ages. Siesta had dragged me all over the place taking care of various menial tasks, and it took a lot out of me. Louise was fast asleep, so I moved as quietly as I could. Using my jacket as a blanket, I laid down on my pile of hay. It surprised me just how comfortable it actually was, but I didn't entertain that thought for long. I closed my eyes, pondering the strange turn of events, and wondered what the future might hold. Unconsciously, I found myself hoping it would include more of that Tabitha girl.

[Chapter 1: End]

Post Note:

Well, that's done and over with. I get the feeling that I might have been a little off with some of the responses that the characters made. If you guys have any opinions or tips, let me know! I've got the entire length of the story planned, so I only have to write out the actual scenes. Let me know how I'm doing, because I want to bring you guys the highest quality content that I can.